1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of caller identification devices and, specifically, to a method and apparatus for detecting caller identification information and selecting predetermined preferences responsive thereto.
2. Background Information
Over the past few years, the scope of telecommunications services has broadened, allowing telephone companies to provide a new variety of telephony offerings to subscribers. The most relevant feature of the telephony offerings to embodiments of the present invention is the caller identification service provided by the telephone companies. With the caller identification service, the calling party""s telephone number is transmitted to the called party (assuming that the calling party""s telephone number is not blocked). The calling party""s telephone number is encoded in an incoming caller line identification (xe2x80x9cICLIDxe2x80x9d) signal while the telephone of the called party is ringing. The called party then captures the ICLID signal and decodes the calling party""s telephone number before picking up the telephone. This can be done by installing a caller identification box, which may be purchased from the telephone company or a telephone retail store, between the telephone line and the telephone. Also, many telephones now have the caller identification feature integrated therein. By using the caller identification box to identify the calling party""s telephone number, the called party can xe2x80x9cscreenxe2x80x9d calls. In addition, the caller identification box displays and stores the telephone number(s) of those who have called, while the called party is away from the telephone.
An improvement to the caller identification box is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,406 (""406) entitled xe2x80x9cCalling Party Announcement Apparatusxe2x80x9d, issued to Luneau. The ""406 patent relates to an apparatus for providing the identity of the caller in synthesized human speech in response to the ICLID signal provided by the telephone company. After the called party has answered the telephone, the calling party""s name or telephone number is announced to the called party over the telephone receiver. The called party can elect to accept or reject the call before the telephone company central office has connected the two parties together. However, the ""406 patent has several drawbacks including the use of synthesized human speech, which has marginal voice quality and complicated signal processing circuits and software to store and recall announcements.
The present invention comprises a caller identification method. In one embodiment, the caller identification method includes detecting an incoming telephone call, decoding a caller identification signal to provide an incoming telephone number responsive to detecting the incoming telephone call, and comparing the incoming telephone number with one or more stored telephone numbers. The method further includes performing one or more functions associated with a stored telephone number if the incoming telephone number matches the stored telephone number.
Other embodiments are described herein.